Extract text from game save files (CTY)
To convert CTY save files to another format, you need OpenTTD or other Game software.
To convert other file formats to the "Game Data File" file type, you need software like OpenTTD or a similar tool.
The .CTY file format stores specific game data. It functions primarily as a cargo type or commodity definition file in OpenTTD and Railroad Tycoon II. Additionally, it serves as a saved city map file in legacy versions of SimCity developed by Maxis.
These files are highly proprietary and severely restricted. They lack standard formatting, meaning you cannot open them natively in a web browser or standard office software. Modders and players face frustrating limits because accessing the internal variables - like cargo yields or map layouts - requires booting up the game or using obscure, community-built extraction tools.
Users typically want to convert .CTY files into TXT, XML, or JSON to edit game parameters or analyze city data. However, standard online converters fail because the format relies on undocumented binary structures specific to each game engine.
This makes the .CTY format notoriously difficult to process. Often, only the original game software can properly read or export the data. Despite this, just drag and drop your file onto convert.guru to identify the format, view the internal hex or text strings, and convert it when possible. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your CTY file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert CTY file to EXE, ISO, BIN, CUE, PAK, WAD, PK3, PK4, BSP, MAP, SAV or DAT, you can use OpenTTD or similar software from the "Game Data Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MOD, BIN, CFG, SCX, DAT, MPQ, LOG, CUE, INI, EXE, SCM or ISO files to CTY, try OpenTTD or another comparable tool in the "Game Data Storage" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our CTY converter.